Haye plans on fighting four more times

By Boxing News - 04/06/2010 - Comments

Image: Haye plans on fighting four more timesBy Sean McDaniel: In the latest boxing news, WBA heavyweight champion David Haye (24-1, 22 KO’s) says he plans on fighting four more times and then hanging up his gloves. Haye, 29, who defeated John Ruiz last weekend by a 9th round stoppage in England, says in an article at the BBC Sport, “I want to retire before I’m 31. Four fights would be ambitious and I’d need to get cracking so the sooner we can get these fights sorted the better.” Haye has a rematch with former WBC heavyweight champion Nikolay Valuev likely coming up next.

After that, Haye says “I want to fight Wladimir Klitschko in late 2010.” This would mean that Wladimir will be Haye’s next opponent after his rematch with Valuev. However, Wladimir Klitschko, 34, has to get by his next opponent Alexander Povetkin and that’s no guarantee win for Klitschko. Povetkin, 30, is probably the best heavyweight contender in the division, and would likely be a champion already if not for the Klitschko brothers.

If Wladimir can get by Povetkin, then by all means a fight against Haye would be something he would be interested in. Haye also wants to fight World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko after the bout with Wladimir. Haye, of course, is assuming that he’ll emerge victorious against Wladimir. There’s no point in a Haye-Vitali fight if Haye can’t get by Wladimir. If Haye beats both Klitschko brothers and Valuev, it’s unknown who Haye would want to fight his 4th and last fight of his career against. Given the popularity of his fights with the Klitschko brothers, it seems more than likely that Haye would fight a rematch against one or possibly both brothers. It wouldn’t make sense for Haye to fight one of the heavyweight contenders because none of them are popular enough to get the kind of money that a fight against the Klitschkos would bring in for him.

Haye would like for the fight against the Klitschko brothers to take place at the Wembley Stadium in London. The Stadium seats 80,000 fans, which is bigger than the last two stadiums Wladimir has fought in by some twenty to thirty thousand. However, the real money for a fight between the Klitschkos would come from PPV, and not from the stadiums. It might be asking a lot for Wladimir to agree to fight in England.

Haye says “Money doesn’t really enter my head in terms of boxing. All I focus on is being the best boxer I can be. Money is not the reason I want to fight the Klitschko brothers. I want to prove I am the best. By beating them, money will follow but for me it’s all about the legacy and the glory.” With Haye set to retire by the time he reaches 31, it’s hard to see him putting together a real lasting legacy, even if he does beat the Klitschko brothers. Both brothers are seen as flawed, and the brother that has been considered to be the better one, Vitali, is getting up in age at 38.

Vitali didn’t look at all good in his win against American Kevin Johnson last year in December. If Haye does beat both of the Klitschko brothers, he would be getting out of the sport just as he was becoming a huge star. That’s unfortunate, because he could make a lot of money and probably hold onto his titles for some time once the Klitschko brothers are beaten and out of the way.

However, beating the Klitschkos is easier said than done. At the end of the day, Haye’s endless talking about beating the Klitschko brothers may never amount to a win for him against either of them. Haye makes a lot of mistakes when fighting, has as weak chin, poor stamina and leaves himself wide open with his wild haymakers. The 6’2” Ruiz was able to land his jab quite effectively against Haye. If a fighter Ruiz’s height can land his jabs against Haye, then the Klitschkos will probably give Haye a lot of problems with their hard jabs.



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